The present invention relates to a sorting apparatus for sorting articles in response to the thickness (or height) of the article.
Conventional sorting apparatuses for sorting articles in response to the thickness (or height) of the article have heretofore been variously developed and employed in a practical use such as, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 76169/1983. This sorting apparatus has a predetermined interval from the upper surface of a conveying passage, feeds a belt with pawls in the lateral direction of the passage and sorts sheets to exclude the sheets each having a thickness larger than the interval from the passage. This apparatus can remove sheets each having a predetermined thickness (or height) or larger. However, when a large quantity of sheets are simultaneously supplied from one side end of the conveying passage in this apparatus, it is disadvantageous that the sheets of lumped state each having a predetermined thickness to increase the entire thickness due to the lumped state are excluded by a thickness sorter.